ANIME REVIEW . Gantz
Lonely as floating ice…in a good way
I’ve been a fan of anime since roughly 1993. I was in junior high and my gateway drug was AKIRA. I had previously seen American “adult” endeavors such as Heavy Metal, and the French film Light Years, and consequentially had been bored to tears, but this film from Japan was so kinetic, so fresh, so totally different. Shortly thereafter the cyberpunk sprawl of AKIRA was joined by apocalyptic wasteland of Fist of the North Star, the deadly-cool of The Professional: Golgo 13, and the violent beauty of Ninja Scroll, Blade of Kamui, and others. Anime provided a veritable cornucopia of ultra-violence, metaphysics, cyberpunk, martial arts, and hot animated chicks – in short everything a nerdy adolescent could ever want.
Then came the late 90’s. Anime hit the big time, with everyone and their mother claiming some degree of fandom. My precious underground pleasure had been invaded by dorks. Cosplay dorks. The truly interesting titles seemed to dry up, and more and more anime the likes of Love Hina flooded the shelves. I felt ashamed of the new connotation anime fandom held, and did my best to distance myself from it.
A few years later and many years wiser, I realize different fans approach their fandom, well, differently. I’ve returned to fishing in the anime sea, and found the tasty tidbits that are Cowboy Bebob, Gungrave, the Goldenboy-esque naughtiness that is Chobits, and even caught the theatrical release of the obviously fantastic Ghost in the Shell 2.That said, Gantz is the first series I felt the need to write about.
Gantz is fricking awesome. Perpetually oscillating between the disturbing, mysterious, perverted, horrific, explosive, meditative, surreal, hilarious, and introspective, Gantz is one of the most entertaining, and frankly, best animes I’ve seen in recent years.
The namesake of the show refers to a black ball, containing a strange bulky man seemingly in stasis (naturally), that summons people at the moment of their death into the tatami floored room where it 
(resides. Once enough people are assembled, Gantz informs them of a mission they must perform, often involving some sort of killing, that they must perform before the allotted time is up. Guns and suits apprehensively referred to as “cosplay suits” by one of the main characters) are provided and the participants are teleported to the mission environment. Those that survive Gantz’s game are presented with their “skores” and are allowed to return to their lives, at least until Gantz summons them again.
We’re first introduced to the student Kei Kurano. In an uncomfortable moment in a subway station, awaiting the train home, he notices an old friend also waiting for the train. His initial attempts at avoidance are thwarted as a drunken bum falls off the platform and onto the tracks; the train just minutes from arriving and his old acquaintance the only one to attempt help. The friend notices Kei and calls to him for help. Much to his chagrin he to jumps down to the rails and the two aid the bum to safety, only to find they themselves cannot make it back upon the platform. As the famous quote goes, “no good deed goes unpunished.” The train closes in, and the boys are splattered, yet almost as immediately as they connect with the train, they find themselves whole, unscathed, in a room full of similarly fated people. Others continue to arrive, including the beautiful suicide “victim”, Kei. Before any of them can truly catch their bearings the Nubian orb that is Gantz taunts the participants, gives them their orders, and sends them on their way. The game begins.
No one escapes Gantz’s ordeal without substantial damage to their psyche. For example, one sequence in episode 3 has Kurano confronted with murdering the game target. The emotional and ethical conflict 
Based on the manga of the same name by Hiroya Oku and serialized in Young Jump magazine, the story is surprisingly well crafted and grabs you from the get go. Characters are believable, and immediately identifiable. Each episode has its own feel and pace. Certain episodes are all about character development, while others solely about delivering breathless action. Granted, certain episodes have better flows than others, and there are a few that move so painfully slow they would have been better omitted, or combined into other episodes tobetter ensure audience retention. That said, however, each episode manages to drop the necessary breadcrumbs for unraveling the mystery of Gantz. For example, are the characters really dead, or facsimiles of their old selves? Is there a grand design behind their being picked by Gantz, or is their unfortunate state of affairs just the work of cosmic coincidence? The visual style of the show is a blend of clean cell based character designs, and three dimensional computer environments. While this has been done before, the steady-cam style virtual pans, zooms, and tracking 
shots are truly unique, and blend quite well the 2 and 3 dimensional objects. Topping off the package is an ultra catchy opening song by Rip Slyme, and the beautiful closing by Natsuki Sogawa.
As can be expected given the subject matter of the show, the production ran into excessive censorship from all corners when run on Japanese television. Boobs and violence aside, one curious item that raised the ire of the censors, as related by the director Ichiro Itano in an interview that serves as a special feature on the first disc, was the fact a segment featured a biker gang riding their motorcycles without wearing helmets. The director responded to the effect that if they were wearing helmets, they wouldn’t be a biker gang. Thankfully the DVD release delivers all the episodes uncut, exactly as they were intended, though in a seeming throwback to the old VHS days of anime, you only get two episodes per disc (later discs contain three episodes).
Make no mistake; Gantz is a dark, cynical, brooding piece of anime. Those that do venture into the realm of Gantz, however, will find a surprisingly deep story that actually warrants multiple viewings. If you’ve grown tired of the manic that permeates most of the OAV’s these days, Gantz will prove a welcome diversion. Gantz frickin’ rocks.
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I’m new to anime but I have seen this several times in passing at the local video store. I have’nt ventured into the long series style anime, but I have to say that I’m intrigued, both by the animation style and the details of this review. So do they explain where “Gantz” came from?
I will definitely be renting this next.
Thanks
In the interest of staying spoiler free, I’ll just say “maybe”. :)
Welcome to the site, Mark.
Yeah i am currently in the process of watching this. Think it is an awesome anime. Its one of those that you feel that its very dark and kinda scary but at the same time you can’t stop watching it because of how good it is. This is one of those shows that all the main chars end up alive and happy. thats all i say. hope i didn’t ruin it.
I live the breasts. They are the nice. Will you give Gantz DVD? I live the movie.
Gantz is the most helliciously intropsective nightmare of splendind visuals.
Your Gantz review is very good. The show is superb, astonishing, nothing compares to it. I love it
Pretty good review…. I have come into the series from episode 15 and really anticipate every episode. I was lost & confused just jumping into this show, and I got to admitt turned off at first. But something made me give this one a chance. I am eager to see episode 22 on the anime network, which is an on demand channel cablevision provides in New York. The stories are powerful & griping, I often find myself edging closer to the TV set. Does anyone know how many episodes there are? I must buy the DVDs!! RAW, GRIPING, EXPLOSIVE, HELLISH, & ACTION PACKED…GANTZ Rocks!!!
Oh my god! I don’t want to spoil anything but MY FAVORITE CHARACTER JUST DIED!!!!! What the hell? So they keep going without them? This is insane! I love this anime, but I am so mad and so sad! WHY WHY WHY? WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE!? OMG OMG OMG! This show is my favorite!
I’m addicted to this show. I’m glad the manga continues, otherwise I’d go crazy. I suggest heading that direction for those whose Gantz appetites went unappeased.
aww i loved gantz til the end… cuz i couldnt freakin understand it!
I actually liked the ending, because it could be interpreted in so many ways :) It made me want to go and start watching it all over from the beginning.
i love gantz it is my favorite anime it is the best in the world if it gose away i will die and maybe enter gantz lol……lol
Okay… I got Vol. 1 up to Vol. 10 on DVDs. I am just done watching everything. I was glued to my seat for vol. 8, vol. 9 and vol. 10. On the edge. I turned off the phone and locked the door also. Shit that was awesome. Now… What the fuck does the ending means??? [Spoiler alert do not read next]
He goes in front of the train with that chick on his back. Turn towards the train and make a pistol with his hand and says “Bang”. Then white everywhere. The Gantz orb goes back to where it came from. The end. o_O
Okay. I take it the orb was an alien that came to earth to make someone realize that the human race is fucked and even more twisted than anything else in the universe? Our hero realize that in the end but fuck he is killed? For what? I am clueless. Help.
Hey Carl,
[SPOILERS WITHIN]
Basically, what I think is that he basically reset the whole system. By him failing he was able to bring back all of the people that died during the game. I could be wrong though. I’ve been meaning to go back and watch the whole thing again from the start.
[Spoiler]
well i agree with you Chris but it was also to emphasised that the others at the platform that did not help the first time, now were more interested in others well beings, and wanted kei to win and survive. i dunno this is really my first written comment on a show so Ehh…
[SPOILERS]
True, but that was also a reflection on Kei’s new outlook. That mission was really the first time he thought about someone else’s needs before his own. By him no longer being selfish, he was sort of promoting the same selflessness in other people around him.
listen guys i am one of the producers of gantz look kei and his friends come back to life so calm down kei,kei,kato,nishi, come back to life thus most of them learn a lesson but the game is not over yet the are still stuck into the game they end up still in the game because of the rivive hint he gives the nishi gives the hint before he dies kei urns a nofe points because once you get 100 points you come back to life frome th game and resume you life so kei only had 300 points thus he brought back nishi kei kauto but gantz gave him back his life because kei gave his life up for them like it sais on episode 3 to save a life you must throw another awya and once you do that there is AN UNBEILEABLE PLACE WAITING FOR YOU RELAX JUST SHOOT.
lets just say kei nishi kauto and kei come back to life but still stuck in the game sorry i just had gotten through typing for 3 hours explaning to yall what happens but fore some reason it did not show and i dont feel like typing anymore
OMG NICE!!!!
Well, im just a visitor, but i guess i must tell you guys the truth about the end of gantz anime.
Maybe you dont know, but when one series its maked, normally, they do contracts for 26 episodes, so far, the manga series was very long, so long that it couldnt be done whithin the 26 episodes, so, they had to make fillers and a fake ending to finish the anime series. Since the part where kei talks witht the REAl kishimoto telling her he has lived with another kishimoto. Til that part, its maked on the manga, from that part on, the story its a filler to end the series.
Now, the reason why you cant understand the ending, its cuz its not an ending, the series goes on and on in the manga, the fillers have got to be done exactly in that part i mentioned, cuz immmediately after that part, kuronos new mission and new characters(VERY AWEZOME), appear, so in order to end the series, the filler had to be there.
Now, how long it is GANTz story?, .. well its reaaaaalllly long, so far there are now 237 manga chapters and, since today, a new 238 chapter of GANTZ second phaze, the author took a 4 months break to make a new complete phaze of the manga, the 238 chapt its the first one of it, i wont spoil you what its about.. but its daaaaaaaammmnn sweeet.
Now, for far, the manga of GANTZ its better than the anime, the detailed of the manga, and also, the going on of th story its superb.
You may all dont know this, but the character of the fillers, that were supposed to be from the train station, … all their acting on the anime, its actually fake… they were mixed on the story to can do some background to the filler chapters, also, they dont appear on the manga at all.
What does it mean the last chapter, well, so far, the fillers had some conditions,
Number 1, it cant be of an alien, cuz in the manga they didnt have it, and if the anime series will continue on the future going along the manga, there cant be any unknown alien.
2.- All the members have to die, so the story afterwards wont be affected.
and most importantly, 3
The las episode has to be confusing as hell, so they wont know if the story goes on or not, so it is possible to continue the anime with the manga story exactly as was written… so, if they decide to continue the series on anime, theyll just have to make obvious what happened with that train. which its that, the train didnt hit him, he was wearing the suit and was transported cuz the 5 seconds were passed, and… about the meaning,… sorry, but theres none…. its mostly done to keep the feeling of the ending of the Temple mission, the feeling that only he survived, and that everyone wants him to live and get out of gantz.
Now, one last thing, guess what, HELL MAKE IT, of course, in the manga story haha , and belive it or not, some died characters will come back to life, also, theres lots of new missions really great… and the end of the GANTz first phaze manga… well, its uninmagined..
o btw, if you want to see the REAL GANTZ STORY:
then gon here:
http://mangarun.com/gantz/
i reccomend you reading it all from the beggining, but if youd only want to continue since where the anime was left, the star reading exactly after chapter
91….m the 91 chapter its the last one that was made on anime, the next chapters are the continuation of the series.
bye
Have a bnice night reading it all… man its DAMN addictive,.
Holy crap! That’s awesome, Andrew! Thanks for posting!
Gantz blewmy mind. When are they going to make a sequel? You know, like a movie. GAAAAANTZ!
Hey Andrew_Savior, you have to say that when Kei points his finger at the train and says ‘Bang’ just before it hits him is pretty cool.
And as for the filler characters in the one where they hunt the non-alien, you have to say that the sick and twisted characters do add something to the story. But I’m wondering if anything they said is reflected in the Mang because it conveyed some meaning and insight into life and society. Damnit I wish I had all 247 (now) of the chapters. Haha i’d be here for a week.
People should also check the Wikipedia page for Gantz as it builds on what Andrew_Savior says about the Manga series.
I luv this show! It’s wry and sardonic in a good way.
I can’t believe people actually like this show. You have protagonists who are completely unlikeable, guys who cry like babies and whine all the time, gratuitious violence that doesn’t contribute to the plot (what plot?), this whole thing is a mess. Even the animation isn’t all that great. I just started watching a new series called “Darker than Black” which is whole better than this dreck. People who this series is “cutting edge” need to get a life.
If you are a TRUE fan of Gantz,
A) Read the manga.
B) Don’t spoil the plot for others.
Gantz anime parallels Hellsing anime; Early on in the series it can pull the viewer in with it’s distinct atmosphere and characterization, however later on in the series it becomes disappointing because it doesn’t quite make sense. This is because both Gantz anime and Hellsing anime largely differentiate from their respective manga. By comparison, both are trash compared to the original manga.
The first time I watched the Hellsing anime, I liked it. There were a few things that struck me as odd, but I found it entertaining overall. Then I read the manga and found myself incredibly disappointed. The changes made detracted from the overall quality of the story. Hellsing manga blows the anime out of the water.
In the case of Gantz, I read the manga before seeing the anime. I discovered it made the same mistkaes as Hellsing. It started off very similar to the manga, but then strayed, in a way that didn’t even make sense, and detracted from the quality of the story. Now I expect an anime to have a few fillers…if nothing else then to drag out the episode. However, the Gantz fillers completely disregarded the manga. The writers would have been better off finishing with the Chibi Alien mission. They choose to stray too much, and as a result Gantz ended on both a confusing and disappointing note.
Read the manga and you will be pleased.
Gantz anime is good up to episode 21. After that start reading Gantz manga chapter 90. The manga is only starting to get good. The cast gets more interesting, there is lots of character development, and the missions are even wilder.
Gantz anime episodes 22+ have nothing to do with the manga. Fans who watch it will be disappointed in the bad writing, and completely lack of continuity.
True fans read the manga!
Just watched Gantz
theres a better place to read the manga at. i know probably everyones read it by now and its been a while since anyone’s posted anything but here it is.
http://www.onemanga.com/Gantz
Awesome, Brandon. Thanks! Odd coincidence: I had just started reading the issues at MangaRun again a short while before you posted.